By:  Krusee (Senate Sponsor - Nelson)                             H.B. No. 2051
	(In the Senate - Received from the House April 28, 2005; 
April 29, 2005, read first time and referred to Committee on 
Intergovernmental Relations; May 24, 2005, reported adversely, 
with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 3, 
Nays 0; May 24, 2005, sent to printer.)


COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2051                                   By:  Wentworth

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the adoption of a state scenic byways program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 391, Transportation Code, is amended by adding Section 391.038 to read as follows: Sec. 391.038. REGULATION OF OUTDOOR ADVERTISING ON CERTAIN HIGHWAYS. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), the commission by rule shall prohibit outdoor advertising in a manner consistent with 23 U.S.C. Section 131(s) on a State Scenic Byway designated under Section 391.256. (b) A rule adopted under Subsection (a) may not apply to outdoor advertising: (1) permitted under Section 391.031(b)(1); or (2) required to be relocated by an improvement to the state highway system if the advertising was erected before the highway was designated a State Scenic Byway under Section 391.256. SECTION 2. Subchapter I, Chapter 391, Transportation Code, is amended by adding Section 391.256 to read as follows: Sec. 391.256. SCENIC BYWAYS PROGRAM. (a) The department shall plan, design, and establish a program for designating highways as State Scenic Byways. (b) The program must include a process by which the department: (1) receives proposals from political subdivisions or other community groups approved by the department for funding projects in accordance with 23 U.S.C. Section 162; (2) applies for grants under 23 U.S.C. Section 162 for the projects; (3) allows an applicant who consents to pay for the costs of the projects that are not covered by grants made under 23 U.S.C. Section 162; (4) excludes from designation a highway or a segment of a highway that no longer meets the criteria established by the department for designation as a State Scenic Byway; and (5) excludes from designation as a State Scenic Byway any segment of a highway that: (A) is adjacent to land zoned as commercial or industrial; (B) does not have the scenic, historic, cultural, natural, recreational, or archaeological qualities for which the highway as a whole is being designated; and (C) is not requested to be excluded from designation for the sole purpose of allowing outdoor advertising as determined by the department. (c) The department shall designate a highway as a State Scenic Byway under the program established by this section before the department applies for a grant under Subsection (b)(1) for a project related to the highway. (d) The department may use money from the state highway fund to pay for the costs of a project that are not covered by a grant made under 23 U.S.C. Section 162. (e) The department shall adopt rules to implement this section. SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
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